


Love Me Do

by skepticallysighing



Series: 30 Días de Recuperación [3]
Category: Bully (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, Recovery, Romance, Sequel, dark gary, past trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:42:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28797063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skepticallysighing/pseuds/skepticallysighing
Summary: “I got you,” Jimmy promised.“I know,” Pete mumbled. “I got you too.”“You better,” he teased, and Pete took comfort in the way he could hear his boyfriend’s heartbeat.ORYears later, at college, Pete still sometimes thinks about Gary it really get's him down. Luckily, he's got a boyfriend who loves him a lot on his side.OR"someone to love, somebody new! someone to love, someone like you!"
Relationships: Jimmy Hopkins/Peter "Petey" Kowalski
Series: 30 Días de Recuperación [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2090907
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	Love Me Do

**Author's Note:**

> what i'm sick of: stories about "empath punching bag escapes sociopathic sadist only for said sociopathic sadist to track them back down to take back their empath punching bag."  
> what i crave: stories about "empath punching bag escapes sociopathic sadist and finds a healthy, loving relationship"
> 
> also this takes place in 2021

“It’s just that-”

Pete hesitated, licking his lips as he tried to find the words. Jimmy let him, and for that habit in their relationship, Pete was grateful. Jimmy always let Pete finish his thoughts, never tried to rush him. So even now, while Pete didn’t know exactly what to say to describe the way he felt, Jimmy would just let him have all the time in the whole wide world to put it into words.

“It’s like this. It’s- here, let’s sit down up here,” he said instead, pointing to the bench up ahead.

It was snowing, but somebody must’ve dusted the bench clean just a few minutes ago. Since not too many people seemed to be around, the men carefully took off their masks and took in the cold, crisp air. 

This campus was pretty, much better than Bullworth. Between Pete’s impressive academic record and Jimmy’s raw talent with painting and photography, they had found significant scholarships to the same liberal arts college.

It really was so much better here. Jimmy’s charmingly aggressive disposition made him fit right in with all the other art majors, and Pete found that political science majors were pretty welcoming of him. People were still pricks here and there, but not  _ dangerously _ so. Hell, Jimmy and Pete could hold hands walking to class and no one would give them shit because people here actually  _ didn’t _ give a shit.

Things were so much better here, but-

Y’know.

“Don’t we all miss things that are gone forever?”

Jimmy squinted at his boyfriend, and Pete could feel his ears turning red in embarrassment. 

“I’m thinking about Gary again.”

Normally, Jimmy would lash out at even the mention of the bastard, but today, he pushed his resentment down and instead leaned back on the bench, arms spreading wide.

“Did he-?”

“No, nothing like that,” Pete reassured him. “Someone called me Petey.”

Jimmy understood immediately.

Gary had been released from the institution back when they were juniors. Pete and Jimmy had been walking around one of the nicer clothing stores to find something for Zoe’s birthday when Gary found them.

It had been frightening, ‘cause Gary  _ had snuck up on Pete when he was on his own and slung an arm around his shoulder. _

_ “ _ **_Petey_ ** _! I wasn’t expecting to see  _ **_you_ ** _ here-” he had leered in that slimy, sticky voice he always seemed to have just for  _ **_Petey_ ** _. _

_ “Gary-” he had gasped(? It felt stupid to say it, but the shock had pulled the gasp from his lungs). He ripped himself away so quickly that he slammed his back right into the shelves behind him. It stung and hurt, but the horror of seeing him again was too much. _

_ “What-...missed me?” Gary teased, stepping forward and caging him in. Pete was taller now, almost Gary’s height, but no one knew how to make him feel small like this bastard. _

_ Pete’s mind was racing too much to let him move, so he looked up at Gary in absolute terror. Why couldn’t he move? Why was he so frozen? And then Gary had grabbed his face, palm covering Pete’s mouth and fingers squishing his cheeks. It was absurd and ridiculous, but it made him feel so helpless. _

_ “Look at you,” Gary murmured, leaning back and looking him up and down. “Someone finally hit puberty. You buying yourself some new br-” _

_ Jimmy turned the corner to see them, and the second he processed what was going on, Jimmy launched himself at Gary, prepared to beat the shit out of him. _

_ Of course, they got kicked out of the store for fighting. The shopkeeper knew Jimmy, as Jimmy had done him a handful of favors, so they weren’t banned for life. But, they couldn’t fight there. Gary and Jimmy did, however, shout at each other in the middle of the street. Pete couldn’t remember all of it, but he could remember little phrases, like Gary’s slimy “Listen,  _ **_friend_ ** _ , you got it  _ **_wrong_ ** _ ,” and Jimmy’s choice “Bullshit!”s and promises to kick Gary’s ass if he ever saw him around again. Gary had left, promising to make both of their lives a living hell.  _

It only took a month for Gary to get locked up again, but what a hell of a month it had been. Jimmy kept close to Pete, and if he couldn’t, he’d make sure someone he really trusted (Russell) was keeping an eye out for Gary.

Pete, however, relapsed a little.

He had gotten such a rush of confidence when he liberated himself from Gary, but after being terrorized, he fell back into old habits. Making himself seem small by hunching and curling in on himself, flinching whenever anyone said anything too loudly or moved too quickly, getting that dissociated look in his eyes whenever someone was giving him a hard time, like he wasn’t there.

He fell back into healthier over time, but it made Jimmy realize how affected Pete really was by Jimmy.

And that wasn’t even mentioning what was going on in his head.

  
  


Someone had called Pete “Petey”, and that’s something only Gary would ever call him. It made sense that it would remind him. 

“Huh,” he said quietly, watching as Pete wrung his own pink mask.

“I know. It’s stupid.”

“Yeah, it is,” Jimmy agreed, “But that doesn’t mean it’s not hurtin’ you.”

Pete let out a little puff of air, a laugh with no humor behind it, and a blank gaze with no real light behind them. “Yeah. It’s hurtin’.”

“I bet,” he nodded, considering it a second before snapping a little. Not a real snap, a dulled one, the bones not making even a little click. Right now, a real snap might startle him.

It was the right move. Pete looked up at him, grounded again. Jimmy made a little gesture with his hands, and Pete leaned up against him, resting securely against his broad shoulder. They were a funny looking pair -- Pete had gotten so tall, arms and legs gangly, like he only got his growth spurt once Gary wasn’t around to stunt it. Jimmy stayed short, no bigger than 5’7”, and he was pure muscle. Yet, with a strong arm around Pete’s waist and a delicate cheek on Jimmy’s shoulder, they looked right together.

“I got you,” Jimmy promised.

“I know,” Pete mumbled. “I got you too.”

“You better,” he teased, and Pete took comfort in the way he could hear his boyfriend’s heartbeat. “You know what?”

“Mm?”

Jimmy readjusted, pulling Pete in closer so he could keep him safe and close to his heart. “You take all his power away when you don’t even think about him.”

“Wow, when did you change to a psych major?”

Jimmy snorted.

“I’m serious. You’re so much stronger than he is, and you get stronger everyday.”

It was kinda preachy, but it was always nice when Jimmy tried to be helpful like that.

“Yeah. I’m doing my best,” Pete admitted.

They sat together in each other’s safe arms for a bit longer before getting up and getting coffee. Together, they reviewed their class syllabuses. While Petey skimmed his powerpoint slides, Jimmy perfectionistically worked on his final piece until he was too frustrated to try anymore, and he instead continued his painting of two giant boobs.


End file.
